88R1876 MEW-D
By: Allison H.B. No. 655
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the placement by a school district of a student who
engages in habitually violent behavior.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.024. EDUCATIONAL SETTING FOR STUDENTS WHO ENGAGE IN
HABITUALLY VIOLENT BEHAVIOR. (a) In this section, "habitually
violent behavior" means a pattern of violent behavior, such as
assault or behavior that results in the hospitalization of a
student or school district staff member, that causes more than one
incident within a grading period during a school year.
(b) A school district may:
(1) for a prescribed period determined by the
district, place a student who engages in habitually violent
behavior towards other students and district staff in a virtual
setting and provide virtual instruction and instructional
materials for remote learning to the student;
(2) consult with local and state law enforcement
agencies to determine whether a student's habitually violent
behavior poses a legitimate ongoing threat to students and district
staff in the general education setting;
(3) establish certain conditions that a student or a
student's parent or person standing in parental relation to the
student must fulfill to allow a student placed in a virtual setting
to return to an alternative, general, or hybrid educational
setting, including conditions that require:
(A) the student or the student's parent or person
standing in parental relation to the student to provide evidence
that the student has undergone a medical or mental health
evaluation; or
(B) other reasonable steps designed to help the
district determine whether the student continues to pose a threat
to students and district staff; and
(4) if a student receives special education services
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, or is receiving accommodations
under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section
794), and has been determined to pose an ongoing threat to the
physical safety of students and district staff, require the
student's admission, review, and dismissal committee or team
established under Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. Section 794), as applicable, to meet to determine an
appropriate educational setting for the student, in accordance with
Section 37.004 and federal law and regulations, to ensure the
student receives a free appropriate public education as required
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.
Section 1400 et seq.).
(c) If the admission, review, and dismissal committee of a
student who engages in habitually violent behavior determines under
Subsection (b)(4) that the least restrictive environment for the
student is a remote, therapeutic, or residential placement, the
district is entitled to receive from the state reimbursement for
past expenses and appropriate funding for future expenses for the
provision of services to that student.
(d) A student placed in virtual instruction under
Subsection (b)(1) shall be counted toward the school district's
average daily attendance in the same manner as other district
students. The commissioner shall adopt rules providing for a
method of taking attendance for students placed in virtual
instruction under Subsection (b)(1).
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.